Catholic Online Forum

Follow your bishop, every one of you, as obediently as Jesus Christ followed the Father. Obey your clergy too as you would the apostles; give your deacons the same reverence that you would to a command of God. Make sure that no step affecting the Church is ever taken by anyone without the bishop’s sanction. The sole Eucharist you should consider valid is one that is celebrated by the bishop himself, or by some person authorized by him. Where the bishop is to be seen, there let all his people be; just as, wherever Jesus Christ is present, there is the Catholic Church. Ignatius of Antioch; Letter to the Smyrneans 8:2 [A.D. 110].

The spouse of Christ cannot be defiled; she is uncorrupted and chaste. She knows one home . . . Does anyone believe that this unity which comes from divine strength, which is closely connected with the divine sacraments, can be broken asunder in the Church and be separated by the divisions of colliding wills? He who does not hold this unity, does not hold the law of God, does not hold the faith of the Father and the Son, does not hold life and salvation. Cyprian;On the Unity of the Catholic Church 6 [A.D. 251].

Peter speaks there, on whom the Church was to be built, teaching and showing in the name of the Church, that although a rebellious and arrogant multitude of those who will not hear or obey may depart, yet the Church does not depart from Christ; and they are the Church who are a people united to the priest, and the flock which adheres to its pastor. Whence you ought to know that the bishop is in the Church, and the Church in the bishop; and if any one be not with the bishop, that he is not in the Church, and that those flatter themselves in vain who creep in, not having peace with God’s priests, and think that they communicate secretly with some; while the Church which is Catholic and one, is not cut nor divided, but is indeed connected and bound together by the cement of priests who cohere with one another. Cyprian; Letters 66 [A.D. 253].

Roman Catholics cannot partake of the Eucharist, nor can we partake of the Roman Catholic's Eucharist.

25. If any separated Eastern Christian should, under the guidance of the grace of the Holy Spirit, join himself to the unity of Catholics, no more should be required of him than what a bare profession of the Catholic faith demands. Eastern clerics, seeing that a valid priesthood is preserved among them, are permitted to exercise the Orders they possess on joining the unity of the Catholic Church, in accordance with the regulations established by the competent authority.(30)

26. Common participation in worship (communicatio in sacris) which harms the unity of the Church or involves formal acceptance of error or the danger of aberration in the faith, of scandal and indifferentism, is forbidden by divine law.(32) On the other hand, pastoral experience shows clearly that, as regards our Eastern brethren, there should be taken into consideration the different cases of individuals, where neither the unity of the Church is hurt nor are verified the dangers that must be avoided, but where the needs of the salvation of souls and their spiritual good are impelling motives. For that reason the Catholic Church has always adopted and now adopts rather a mild policy, offering to all the means of salvation and an example of charity among Christians, through participation in the sacraments and in other sacred functions and things. With this in mind, "lest because of the harshness of our judgment we be an obstacle to those seeking salvation" (31) and in order more and more to promote union with the Eastern Churches separated from us, the Sacred Council lays down the following policy.

27. Without prejudice to the principles noted earlier, Eastern Christians who are in fact separated in good faith from the Catholic Church, if they ask of their own accord and have the right dispositions, may be admitted to the sacraments of Penance, the Eucharist and the Anointing of the Sick. Further, Catholics may ask for these same sacraments from those non-Catholic ministers whose churches possess valid sacraments, as often as necessity or a genuine spiritual benefit recommends such a course and access to a Catholic priest is physically or morally impossible.(33)

28. Further, given the same principles, common participation by Catholics with their Eastern separated brethren in sacred functions, things and places is allowed for a just cause.(34)

29. This conciliatory policy with regard to "communicatio in sacris" (participation in things sacred) with the brethren of the separated Eastern Churches is put into the care and control of the local hierarchs, in order that, by combined counsel among themselves and, if need be, after consultation also with the hierarchs of the separated churches, they may by timely and effective regulations and norms direct the relations among Christians.

Can. 844 §1. Catholic ministers administer the sacraments licitly to Catholic members of the Christian faithful alone, who likewise receive them licitly from Catholic ministers alone, without prejudice to the prescripts of §§2, 3, and 4 of this canon, and ⇒ can. 861, §2.

§2. Whenever necessity requires it or true spiritual advantage suggests it, and provided that danger of error or of indifferentism is avoided, the Christian faithful for whom it is physically or morally impossible to approach a Catholic minister are permitted to receive the sacraments of penance, Eucharist, and anointing of the sick from non-Catholic ministers in whose Churches these sacraments are valid.

§3. Catholic ministers administer the sacraments of penance, Eucharist, and anointing of the sick licitly to members of Eastern Churches which do not have full communion with the Catholic Church if they seek such on their own accord and are properly disposed. This is also valid for members of other Churches which in the judgment of the Apostolic See are in the same condition in regard to the sacraments as these Eastern Churches.

no Orthodox Priest would commune a Roman Catholic.

...We believe that the Orthodox Church is the One True, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church...

then in Greece I must have met - and heard of - lots of dissenting Eastern Orthodox priests. Strange, because I am pretty sure they were good old traditional people, and some even monks famous in their country. I must have met lots of such dissenters in the Eastern Orthodx communities in Rome and Southern Italy as well.

But "dissenting Orthodox" is an oxymoron isn't it?

As I believe that it is beyond the scope of this particular discussion, I will not throw quotes in response to alf.

However, to the best of our understanding, the Apostolic Deposit was not kept by the Roman Catholic Church, as it has had innovations. We believe that both the original, unchanged Faith and the unbroken Apostolic Succession are needed for the Church to be the True Church.

To break this down tangibly: former Roman Catholics who enter the Church need to be Chrismated.

...However, to the best of our understanding, the Apostolic Deposit was not kept by the Roman Catholic Church, as it has had innovations. We believe that both the original, unchanged Faith and the unbroken Apostolic Succession are needed for the Church to be the True Church...

...in the Church there is the concept of development of doctrine. Christ in the beginning gave the apostles the entire deposit of faith and this the Church guards against all attacks from the beginning until the end of time. But they didn't understand the faith fully--it had to be developed in the coming centuries, somewhat similar to the acorn. Of course your cohorts insist that the popes and bishops "invented" the doctrines. Do you see branches, leaves, flowers, etc. in the acorn? No! It takes time for that nut to become a full-grown oak tree! So the rudimentary understanding of the Trinity (e.g., and other teachings) was present from the beginning, but the passage of time slowly unraveled its more profound understanding.

I am not sure which part was offensive, but the Byzantine Empire was actually the Roman Empire.